Can we use NLP to understand/parse/compile programming code?
Yes, and that is the ambition of the Decoder project (H2020 funded in Europe). Analyzing with NLP techniques the comments in e.g. C or C++ source code (of open source projects, and perhaps their git logs).
I even happen to be on the photo.
My dream is to try similar things, in a few years, in RefPerSys. You could join that project, BTW.